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Good move at the time, maybe a panic move because OMGRZ we need another slasherz!!!, 20/20 tells me we could have done better, but I can't complain the way this year's team is performing. Well done but I'm not giving it an A+
Spurs Get: Richard Jefferson
Bucks Get: Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, and Fabricio Oberto
My first reaction? Absolute STEAL for the Spurs. They give up three old rotation guys for an all-star caliber swingman? Pop and RC Buford (finally!) worked that magic again!
But after looking at what exactly was traded (the contracts/salaries), I'm not quite as excited as before. The Bucks get a BUNCH of cap space cleared up, the Spurs take on a big contract while getting the long, athletic, 3-pt shooting small forward they've been looking for. Looks great.
Even though I'm lovin' it as much as a big mac, it is nowhere NEAR the magnitude of the Pau Gasol trade/giveaway.
The one HUGE catch is that the Spurs are overpaying quite a bit. Jefferson is not gonna have anywhere near the impact of Gasol but he's getting paid almost as much. He's getting paid more than Parker or Ginobili for the next TWO years as the FOURTH option. If this were say...umm Luol Deng, Tayshaun Prince, Josh Smith or Stephen Jackson (SJax!!), who all get paid around 8-11 mill/year, I'd be much more excited.
Also, directly because of Jefferson's 15 million per yr contract, the Spurs lose any hope of pursuing Lebron, Wade, Melo, or more realistically, BOSH in 2010. This was a big part of why they've been so CHEAP/prudent about contracts and cap space, and cautious about every potential free agent or draft prospect (ie: LUIS SCOLA!!!) over the years. And now that's gone.
But I'm STILL pretty damn happy about this trade and that is why this is a TRADE and is nowhere near the level of STEAL that the Gasol deal was. Because no matter how much "financial flexibility" a team says they want, rarely is any "blockbuster" trade made just because the salaries match.
In that Memphis-LA deal, Kwame Brown and two other scrubs (which included one retired player!) with a combined salary of around $13 million were traded for Pau Gasol, who was set to make around $13 million that year. Lakers get an All-Star center, Grizzlies get $13 million of cap space (oh, and some worthless draft picks and Pau's brother, who's nowhere close to Pau talent-wise)
The salaries match. It works, right? Wrong...or at least that's what any self-respecting GM would say. You don't give up a sure-fire player just because the numbers work. Just because you have $13 million dollars of cap space doesn't mean a player (or two) will magically appear out of free agency to conveniently fit that void in team salary. Especially in Memphis. That is why people thought it was weird that not only did Memphis ignore other "salary-dump" offers from around the league, they declined some sweet deals for good players (ie: the Bulls' offer of Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, others).
This principle of "give and take" TRADING is also why the Spurs gave $11.8 million of expiring contracts to the Bucks, and in return, they not only took on a significantly larger and longer $14 million per yr contract, but it's attached to a player that is probably only worth 80% of his contract.
Now, a trade that would come closer to equaling the Gasol giveaway would be a Spurs trade involving the total $11 million contracts of Bowen, Thomas, and Oberto for say...umm...how about Danny Granger of the Indiana Pacers (who is set to make $11 million)?? Hey, the salaries work. Good deal, right?
No, it isn't.
But I'm still very happy about the Spurs getting the deal they did get this week. Because it is a great trade.
________________________
And it has borderline/barely paid off, I believe. BELIEVE.
Good move at the time, maybe a panic move because OMGRZ we need another slasherz!!!, 20/20 tells me we could have done better, but I can't complain the way this year's team is performing. Well done but I'm not giving it an A+
Did you write this a year ago? You do realize that RJ has the 4th highest salary at 8.4m, right?The one HUGE catch is that the Spurs are overpaying quite a bit. Jefferson is not gonna have anywhere near the impact of Gasol but he's getting paid almost as much. He's getting paid more than Parker or Ginobili for the next TWO years as the FOURTH option. If this were say...umm Luol Deng, Tayshaun Prince, Josh Smith or Stephen Jackson (SJax!!), who all get paid around 8-11 mill/year, I'd be much more excited.
Tim Duncan $18,835,381
Tony Parker $13,650,000
Manu Ginobili $11,854,584
Richard Jefferson $8,400,000
Are you more excited ]with this new information in hand?
It was exciting to see him bust out with some 20+ games when we came out of the gate this year. It seems his role and game has been fading since.
Our record is validation of the status quo, but it would take pressure off of the big 3 and make us that much more of a force to be reckoned with if he could score 20+ points, I don't know, a couple of times a month? An involved, aggressive RJ would be a good thing.
I'm not sure that's how he's being utilized now.
I did indeed write this a few days after the initial trade went down. And I'm aware of his opting out and resigning for less. And I'm very happy with that.
I'd still prefer having SJax back.
Ya ain't rang since. The constant? Bowen.
Pop was done with Bowen no matter what.
I know. Phil gets the same "done" on with certain players like that:::Rice, Horry, Vuj.
It's a flaw.
Yeah, the Spurs defense died once Bowen started riding the pine for Finley. The shooters are going to have to go nuts and Parker+Ginobili have to be playing at an A-level to take the conference.
It wasn't just that Pop was done with Bowen, it was that Bowen was done with Bowen.. I loved Bruce but the guy had lost not just one step but two to two and a half, and it wasn't a case of him coming back in shape after dedicating himself to working out over the summer, the guy was already in shape. The spurs defense has had a 4 fold death and each part had an impact.
First bit to go was the rise of protection of the star wing. No hand checking and if you breath on these guys outside of 8 feet they will get a whistle, Wade and Durant owe 8 points per game on average to this. After the change it was somewhat mitigated for a couple of years on a few teams, with tsome defensive names (Peyton and Bowen being examples) being slightly respected with whistles but that was phased out as well.
Lose of 2nd interior shot alteration, funneling your man into Oberto, Bonner or Blair isn't the same as funneling him into DRob, or even Rasho. This was a slow death, measured in games when the Admirals back was loose and a two headed center of mediocrity having a decent game. It also put more pressure on Duncan.
Timmy's Knees, people get old, people get hurt, you aren't quite as fast as you once were. Oh and you aren't getting quite the support you probably should from the other big man spot meaning you have more area to cover, have to work harder on the boards, and guard their go to offensive bigman straight up as well as be designated funnelman to alter shots.
Bruce got old, see above.
As for the Gasol deal v RJ, You know that P. Gasol went to the one of the anointed teams right? There are 3 or 4 classes of citizens in the NBA, depending on weather you consider the Bulls and Knicks in the Boston, Lakers class of league office loves you and gives you a reach around, or if you consider them in a second slightly lower tier of love. Contending small markets, and the feeder teams of mephis, clippers golden state type chronic looser.
Excellently put.
WTF? You WROTE this a few days after the trade, and waited like 20 months to post it?
Bowen was dumped in favor of Michael Finley, and Bowen was clearly able to help because he contributed once the Spurs got into a hole against the Mavericks. Let's not rewrite history. Pop traded defense for offense, simple as that.
I initially just put it on my facebook notes and i was looking back through them this week.
I'm not rewriting history in 08-09 Bruce was no where close to as effective defensively as he had been previous seasons especially against faster players. He was occasionally effective for a game or two but it was obvious he was done, watch a couple of games from that year, I was all for getting him back after the bucks waived him but for an end of the bench lockerroom guy to go in for a few minutes a game and provide an example to hairston howto be annoying as on defense.
So...next spring will you get all irate at his opt out and extension?
haha...no. i don't have much to say on that other than i'm pretty happy about it.
Next spring he laments Splitter's lack of playing time.
We don't have any hope of pursuing 2010 free-agents while Duncan, Parker and Manu are on the salary book. That's why RJ trade didn't affect that.
wouldve preder rj off the books, his playin like compared to gary neal...
shouldve just went youth this year, and i think we could still win 50 games
What small forward could we have picked up on the cheap that would have produced as well as RJ? I hate his contract too but Spurs don't have much in the way of options for the SF position without Jefferson.
I thought initially that Jefferson was just a lateral move. His work is paying off for SA
This. And has it worked is the question. Not for the following years after and the jury is still out this season.
I'd recommend getting your computer checked. Not sure if you're aware of this but it took two years for your post to upload.
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